Comerica Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Cheniere Energy, Inc. $LNG

Key Points

• Comerica Bank reduced its stake in Cheniere Energy by 15.5%, selling 4,601 shares, and now holds a total of 25,171 shares worth approximately $5.83 million.
• Cheniere Energy's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with $7.30 EPS, significantly higher than the consensus estimate of $2.35, and revenue reached $4.64 billion, up 42.8% year-over-year.
• Analysts have recently increased their price targets for Cheniere Energy, with Bank of America raising its target from $258 to $271 and multiple firms rating the stock as a "Buy."

Comerica Bank cut its stake in Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG - Free Report) by 15.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,171 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 4,601 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Cheniere Energy were worth $5,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Cheniere Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $335,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,375 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,599,361 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $343,655,000 after buying an additional 251,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cheniere Energy by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 33,261 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $7,147,000 after buying an additional 8,761 shares during the last quarter. 87.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cheniere Energy

In other Cheniere Energy news, Director Neal A. Shear sold 4,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.93, for a total transaction of $1,057,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 29,733 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,312,236.69. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Cheniere Energy Stock Performance

LNG traded down $1.50 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $240.33. 849,384 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,084,200. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.14 and a 1 year high of $257.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 0.43. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $235.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.29.

Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $4.95. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 21.05% and a return on equity of 37.83%. The company had revenue of $4.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.84 EPS. Cheniere Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Cheniere Energy, Inc. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Cheniere Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $268.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cheniere Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Cheniere Energy from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Cheniere Energy in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $263.29.

About Cheniere Energy

Cheniere Energy, Inc, an energy infrastructure company, primarily engages in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) related businesses in the United States. It owns and operates the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana; and the Corpus Christi LNG terminal near Corpus Christi, Texas. The company also owns Creole Trail pipeline, a 94-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal with several interstate and intrastate pipelines; and operates Corpus Christi pipeline, a 21.5-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Corpus Christi LNG terminal with various interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines.